A Manitoba senator who has spoken passionately about banning the use of air-exported horses for slaughter in Japan says he will not accept an invitation to watch a shipment of horses being loaded onto plane at the Winnipeg airport.
Meanwhile, animal advocates are concerned that ongoing debate in the Red Chamber about Bill C-355 will lead to a federal election call and cause the bill to die.
On December 5, Independent Senator Charles Adler urged his colleagues to support the bill, which would ban the air export of horses for slaughter, and send it to committee before the Senate adjourns for the holidays. later in the week.
“Once the doors are closed in Canada and the plane is in the air, Canada, the department in charge has no way of knowing what will happen to those horses,” Adler said. Canadian inspectors are not present on the flights or on the ground when these horses arrive at their destination so Canada is entirely dependent on local authorities overseas to tell us if there has been a death or injury during transport.
“There is a high probability that these horses will suffer or be injured during this process or worse.”
But Adler declined a challenge from another Manitoba senator, Conservative Don Plett, to join him at the Winnipeg airport very early Monday morning to watch horses being loaded onto a plane bound for Japan.
“You admitted, Senator Adler, that these horses are suffering on the tarmac. They are being put hard in crates where they can't turn, where they can't lie down, which is not true, ” Plett said after Adler's statement.
“I invite you to come with me on December 16th to the Winnipeg Airport and see just that.”
Increasing concerns about delays
Adler confirmed to CBC News that he will not join Plett, who recently toured a cargo plane in Edmonton to see how horses are treated.
“I support the bill and I do not want to do anything to distract from the most important things, reducing the suffering of Canadian horses being airlifted on a cargo ship without heat, food, water or rest, halfway around the world,” said Adler. wrote in response to CBC News.
Plett told CBC on Friday that there are still at least three senators who want to discuss the bill. As the official critic, he gets the last word. He does not believe there will be enough time before the holidays because there is too much government business to get through.
“We've always argued that all of this should be done through regulation and not through legislation,” Plett said.
That worries Kaitlyn Mitchell, director of Legal Advocacy for Animal Justice. She is concerned that the bill is caught up in partisan politics and will not be passed before the next federal election.
“It's important for me to go to the airport and see the horses because I think it's important to document that these shipments are happening,” she said. I think it's important to see the horses suffer on their own.”
CFIA supervises horses in transport
Animal Justice has released newly obtained documents from the Japanese government showing that at least one horse died after being injured during a flight to Japan in June. Several others fell by the wayside.
In September, the advocacy group provided documents showing that at least 21 horses died during or in the days after flying from Canada to Japan between May 2023 and June 2024.
That contradicts information provided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). In February, a group representative to a committee in the House of Commons the agency is aware of only five air cargo-related horse deaths since 2013.
The CFIA told CBC News that it has reviewed the documents provided by Animal Justice and, as a result, is now asking exporters and air carriers for start and stop times. record the completion of each stage of delivery from Canada, as well as the total transit time.
It is on contingency plan from the air carrier which includes measures to reduce animal suffering in case of delay.
However, the CFIA said it found only one death and eight serious injuries that occurred in flight or were observed on arrival between June 2023 and June 2024. The additional cases occurred after the horses were there the Japanese quarantine.
Canada cannot force Japan to report any incidents after the horses are unloaded from the cargo planes so the CFIA said that will not be included in its plan. report. Since September, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has been providing that information to Canada.
Fear of delay
The governing body said two CFIA officials and Canada's chief veterinary officer traveled with horse transport to Japan in December. They saw every stage of the process – loading horses at the Alberta farm, the trip to the Edmonton airport, moving to the crates and being loaded onto the plane.
They boarded the plane with the horses and continued to monitor the process as the animals were moved to the quarantine facility.
While in Japan, CFIA officials met with the Chief Veterinary Officer and MAFF officials to share information.
But amid the political debate and government investigation, Danae Tonge of Manitoba Animal Save said she just wants the practice banned entirely.
“It's awesome and awesome to see the horses arrive and unload,” she said.
“If Bill C-355 is not passed before the end of the session, or if an early election is called, this bill could die on the floor and we could lose all progress on it, which would be terrible.”
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